Eye On Housing
Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen’s main point at the press conference following the conclusion of the March 17-18 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting was that the Fed was prepared to be “less patient, but not impatient” with regard to the timing of the first hike in interest rates, presumably to rattle the cage of the June meeting consensus that… Read More ›
Tag Archive for ‘FOMC’
Federal Open Market Committee – Leaning Toward Later Liftoff
Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting January 27-28 reveal an as yet unsettled discussion regarding the timing of the first increase in the federal funds rate, but the weight of the conflicting views appears to be shifting toward a liftoff later than the current expectation of mid-2015. Declining energy prices were viewed… Read More ›
Federal Open Market Committee – Pivot to Inflation, Manage Expectations
No major surprises were revealed in the standard summary statement released following the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting January 27-28. With economic output expanding, strong job growth and a declining unemployment rate the committee has shifted its focus to below target (2 percent) inflation as the primary threat to the continuing economic recovery. The… Read More ›
Federal Open Market Committee, December Meeting – Crude Oil, the Dollar and Abroad
Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, held December 16-17, indicate the committee is confident the economic recovery will continue with accelerating growth in output, sustained improvement in job gains and a declining unemployment rate. Lower gas prices as well as improvements in household balance sheets are supporting greater consumer spending. Low interest… Read More ›
Federal Open Market Committee – Patience and Inflation
The Federal Reserve’s monetary policy setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) concluded its December meeting releasing a standard summary statement and Chairwoman Janet Yellen presided over a post-meeting press conference. With the asset purchase program a thing of the past as of October the all-consuming question among Fed watchers now is when to expect “liftoff”, the first increase in the… Read More ›
FOMC Minutes – A “Considerable Time”
The Federal Reserve released the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting held in October, providing a more in-depth view of their deliberations than can be gleaned from the post-meeting statement. The minutes make clear the widespread agreement among participants that the asset purchase program had achieved its stated goal of substantial improvement in the outlook for the… Read More ›
Federal Open Market Committee – No October Surprise
The October meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) concluded with no surprises. As widely expected, the committee followed through on its September pledge to end asset purchases this month absent any significant deterioration in the economic outlook between the meetings. The committee reiterated its intention to keep the federal funds rate target in its current 0-25 basis points… Read More ›
Minutes to FOMC – Zombie Headwinds
They just won’t die. The seemingly endless parade of impediments holding back a more robust economic recovery have included existential threats to the Eurozone, financial crises, natural disasters, turmoil in the Middle East and Ukraine, polar vortexes, and now renewed recession and the threat of deflation in the Eurozone, US currency appreciation and slowing global growth. As the US economy… Read More ›
Federal Open Market Committee September Meeting Concludes – Moving Right Along
The September meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) concluded with the release of the traditional summary statement, Chairwoman Yellen’s press conference, and the economic projections of the meeting participants. The Fed also released a brief update to its June 2011 plans for normalizing monetary policy. There was little changed in the language of the statement. The economy is… Read More ›
FOMC Minutes From the July Meeting – Getting Better Slowly and Planning Next Steps
The Federal Reserve released the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting held July 29-30. Following its standard procedure the Fed released a statement immediately following the meeting announcing the major policy decisions, and released the minutes from the meeting, providing a more in-depth view of the deliberations, three weeks later. While there was a general recognition that… Read More ›